The Summit County Library’s Great Decisions discussion group has grown exponentially since it was introduced in 2021 by Susan Murphy, Coalville Branch Manager.
In the first year, 80 people registered for 30 openings. So the next session offered 60 slots, and those were filled.
This year the discussion facilitators — Murphy, and volunteers Bob Shallenberg and Jane Perkins — decided to offer 75 slots for afternoon and evening sessions of the nine-week course, one of the United States’ largest discussion programs on world affairs.
Registration is now open by visiting thesummitcountylibrary.org. The only requirement for registrants is to have a Summit County Library card. Library cards are free for Summit County residents, and $25 for nonresidents.
The format of the 90-minute sessions, which are held at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and start with a mandatory orientation on Jan. 30, include reading a chapter from a Great Discussions book at home, gathering to watch a 30-minute video of the topic and then safely discussing the topic further in breakout groups.
The Foreign Policy Association, which created Great Decisions in 1954 to educate the public about current events, announced the topics for 2023 include:
- Energy Geopolitics
- War Crimes
- China and the U.S.
- Economic Warfare
- Politics in Latin America
- Global Famine
- Iran at a Crossroads
- Climate Migration
Shallenberg, volunteer and Friends of the Summit County Library president, looks forward to seeing people engage in these discussions, especially since there is so much political turmoil in the United States.
“In Summit County, there is a spectrum of views that go from slightly right of center to pretty far left in the aggregate, and what fuels me is to see people engaged in meaningful, respectful discussion,” he said. “We’re not trying to achieve consensus. We’re just trying to host a forum where all different kinds of views can be aired. There’s a lot to be learned in these sessions about each of the countries and situations we talk about.”
Shallenberg, who splits responsibility with Perkins in leading the sessions, says he likes to further hone his knowledge about the topics through additional sources.
“I had been working in Japan for the past 25 years, doing consulting work,” he said. “Because of that work, I read multiple periodicals every day — Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, the Economist. So whenever I encounter an article that pertains to one of our topics, I archive it. Sometimes I’ll share it, and sometimes I’ll just use it to make myself more knowledgeable about the topic.”
Shallenberg’s goal is to get the discussion ball rolling.
“It’s about getting everyone else in attendance to weigh in with their opinion,” he said.
Shallenberg, Murphy and Perkins also decided to find ways to enhance this year’s curriculum with a handful of guest speakers and presenters.
“This feature isn’t part of the Foreign Policy Association programming, but we think it will make things more interesting,” Shallenberg said.
These additions will start with a panel discussion on Jan. 30 that will showcase the importance for citizens of the United States to be knowledgeable about foreign policy topics and issues, according to Shallenberg.
Guests will include Val and Steve Chin, whose son, Josh, is a former Park Record editorial assistant, and an award-winning deputy chief of the Wall Street Journal’s China bureau.
Josh Chin, along with his colleague Liza Lin, recently published a book, “Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control,” which details how the Communist Party of China uses artificial intelligence and other advanced forms of technology to keep an eye on the country’s religious minorities.
The book, which also reveals how American companies are helping the government ramp up its power of digital surveillance, is the result of Chin’s and Lin’s Gerald Loeb Award-winning investigative series that uncovered China’s Communist Party’s use of digital surveillance.
“Josh will also join us virtually in March when we talk about China,” Shallenberg said. “He’s working in Korea now, because he was kicked out of Beijing for his work on the articles and the book.”
Other speakers Shallenberg has booked include two former State Department officers posted in Moscow, and representatives from the Utah Ukrainian Association.
“We wanted to add these speakers because the Foreign Policy Association sets up the programming for the discussions in November,” he said. “So a lot of water could have run under the bridge by the time we get to (some of these topics). So our guest speakers will bring us up to date on any developments within the topics we’ll address, and review the Foreign Policy Association materials and give their thoughts.”
Shallenberg’s introduction to the Great Decisions program also introduced him to Summit County when he moved here from Japan in 2021.
“I thought this would be a good way to meet people,” he said. “I have family in Salt Lake City, but I literally knew no one in Summit County. I read about it in The Park Record and signed up.”
Shallenberg, as one of the 30 who participated in the first season discussion, caught the attention of Murphy, who brought the Great Decisions discussions to Summit County.
“By virtue of living in other countries, you gain an interest in foreign policy, and I felt comfortable being part of the group discussions when we did our breakouts,” Shallenberg said. “I’ve done group facilitation work in the past, and, over the course of the first year, Murph asked me to facilitate the break-out sessions. And by year two, I did that pretty much every week.”
This season’s sessions will meet Mondays through April 3, except forFeb. 20, which is Presidents’ day, Shallenberg said.
“I think there is so much appetite for engagement in Summit County, and we’re thrilled people want to participate in this,” he said.